Mass spectrometry reveals distinct extracellular proteome of food-borne Escherichia coli O157:H7 and O104:H4

摘要

There are several serotypes of Escherichia coli that cause disease in humans. Serotypes O157:H7 and O104:H4 are especially problematic because they can be transmitted on the surfaces of fresh produce and in uncooked meat. The proteins that O157:H7 and O104:H4 secrete in nutrient-rich human intestines are known, but the proteins they secrete in nutrient-poor environments are not well-defined. It is possible that O157:H7 and O104:H4 secrete different proteins that allow them to persist in fresh produce and food environments outside of their hosts. In this study, proteins were isolated from the supernatants of O157:H7 and O104:H4 grown in nutrient-poor liquid medium. Tandem mass spectrometry and bioinformatics were used to identify the secreted proteins.